For more pictures, click on the image above
Robot Mode: The first thing one notices about Breakaway is his unusual head placement. His head sits inside the cockpit of his jet mode, said cockpit forming the center of his torso. As a result Breakaway has a very hunchback-like look to him. Interestingly enough the head sits on a very posable neck joint, but can't move at all because it's wedged inside the cockpit. There is a relatively minor mod you can use to fix this, but as things stand Breakaway's head movement is very much restricted.
Leaving the head issue aside, Breakaway is a great robot. He is very posable, absolutely no complaints on that front, and his big feet give him a solid platform for a lot of dynamic poses. His detailing is also very good, I especially like the hands with individually sculpted fingers (though one could question the significance of him having but three fingers on each hand). I was somewhat surprised that the minigun he carries on his right arm does not shoot some kind of projectile. This is no complaint, mind you. I've just gotten so used to every Transformer above Scout-size having some projectile he can shoot, it was unexpected.
The only downside on Breakaway (if you don't mind the unusual head placement, that is) is his paint job, which is pretty boring. Beige with brown highlights. Some of his robot parts are colored a light blue, somewhat breaking up the monotony, but color-wise he's pretty blah. Not as boring as Starscream, but still. I know that realistically fighter jets aren't that colorful, but I'd really have liked some more diversity here. Apart from that, though, a very nice robot mode.
Alternate Mode: Breakaway transforms into a Lockheed-Martin F-35, a prototype fighter jet designed vor vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). Now I can't tell you how close to the real-life counterpart he looks, as I've only seen a few images, but overall I must say the jet looks pretty good. Like most jet Transformers he has a bit of an undercarriage (all the robot bits have to go somewhere) but it's smaller that with many other jet modes I've seen and there aren't any robot parts visible.
Well, except one, of course. Breakaway's robot head is still inside the cockpit, visible to all the world. This, for me, is a flaw. It's a nice idea to have the head pop out of the jet cockpit in robot mode, but this is supposed to be a disguise. People aren't supposed to know that this jet is actually a robot. So a big robot head in the cockpit sort of ruins the whole purpose behind the transforming thing.
Leaving that very big flaw aside, Breakaway is an excellent jet. He's got a landing gear, nice detailing on the wings, a somewhat boring but more or less realistic paint job, and his form is a lot more streamlined than many other jet Transformers. Now if only they'd have found a way to hide the head...
Remarks: Breakaway is one of the many no-show characters in the ROTF line. One might say he had a cameo in that he somewhat resembles the fighter planes involved in the final battle in Egypt, but he is never mentioned by name or seen in robot mode. He does appear in the ROTF computer game, though.
Breakaway was among the first wave of ROTF figures available here in Germany and I bought him pretty much right at the start. It took me some time to get around to this review, though, mostly because this figure leaves me at a bit of a loss. Whether or not you like this figure heavily depends on whether you like the unusual arrangement concerning his head and torso. It took me some time and internal deliberation, but I finally fell on the side of liking him, at least when it comes to the robot mode. He's a good figure and whether or not he has a flaw depends on your personal taste. As a fan of unusual configurations, I only subtract some points for the alternate mode, which would be great if they'd have found a way to hide the head better. One of the better figures in ROTF's Deluxe line-up.
Rating: B
